Partition wall header with ventilating air divider



M. BODIAN May 16, 1967 PARTITION WALL HEADER WITH VENTILATING AIR DIVIDEE Filed Jan. 4, 1965 a a u. 1 X f z N. I 6. T v M WP m w a H II: Pm. lin 3 w x M M I|1l|| l M i l 2 2 m h 3 2 J I w. in. FJ H W w Z 2 k\ a u m I r 7 H Wm W M]. f 2 2 2 I FIG. 2.

IIVVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent 01 3,319,558 Patented May 16, 1967 ice nership Filed Jan. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 422,890 7 Claims. ((31. 9840) This invention relates to a header member for dividing ventilating air from an elongated ceiling duct disposed above a partition wall.

In building construction wherein large rooms are provided, and in which elongated above-the-ceiling ventilating ducts for said large rooms are disposed in position where smaller room partition Walls may be subsequently installed, there are problems of air distribution into the smaller rooms, as well as the elimination of sound inter ference between the smaller rooms. By this invention, I provide a header, which may be fabricated from sheet structural material, or it may be an integral extrusion of metal or plastic, whose upper portion engages the already installed ceiling vent openings, and whose lower portion engages or rests on the partition wall.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a partition wall header which will engage the elongated opening of a concealed ceiling ventilating duct, to divide the ventilating air stream therefrom to the two sides of the partition. Another object is to provide a partition Wall header which prevents sound interference between the rooms because of the common ventilator duct. A further object is to provide bilateral air distribution means for concealed ceiling ventilating duct.

These and other objects are attained by my invention, which will be understood from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view with parts broken away and shown in section, showing the assembly of my header member with the ceiling ventilating duct;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an assembly of the header, the ceiling ventilating duct with preferred air distributing vanes, and the partition wall;

FIG. 3 is an alternative form for the assembly of the header, the ceiling ventilating duct, and the partition wall which includes air distribution vanes in the header for the bilateral air supply; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the ceiling tile or plate 11 abuts the ventilating duct 12 which is concealed above the ceiling structure, the walls 14 of the throat 13 abutting the adjoining edges of the ceiling tile 11, and said throat walls preferably having outturned ledges 15 for support of said ceiling tile.

In the preferred form of my invention as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower portion of the ventilating duct 12 consists of a channel 16 whose vertical sides 17 are connected by the base plate 18, which base plate has openings 19 through which air enters the header 20. Upright vanes 21 across the channel are provided adjacent the openings 19, and these vanes may be sheared out of the base plate to provide the air openings 19, being then bent up to form the vanes 21.

The ventilating duct above the throat may be constructed of any desired material and in any desired form, for example, with sound absorbing sheets 22 as described in La Vigne et al. Patent No. 3,132,579.

The header 20 consists of a channel 23 formed of side walls 24 and the bottom plate 25, with an upright divider wall 26 extending longitudinally in the header channel 23, and extending upwardly almost to the base plate 18 of the ventilating duct channel 16. The divider wall 26 is preferably made of sound absorbing material, such as cellular acoustical board or tile, and is supported in the groove 27 which is provided in the bottom plate 25. The header may be formed as an integral extrusion or it may be fabricated in any selected way from sheet metal or plastics. The side walls 24 have air outlet Openings 28 disposed along their length.

The header 20 is provided with a pair of downwardly depending flanges 29 extending lengthwise, to fit over or otherwise engage the partition wall 33 which constitues the room divider extending between the floor and the header. The walls 29 may be positioned laterally to fit the thickness requirements of the partition wall structure, and the bottom plate 25 of the header channel may be extended into ledge-forming strips 30 to provide the proper spacing for the walls 29.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the air distributing vanes 21 may be lacking in the main ventilating duct 12, and in this event, it is desirable to provide air distributing vanes 32 in the two opposite air outlets into the two rooms. The outlet openings 28A of the side walls 24A of the header channel 23A may be formed by shearing out the metal except at one end, following which the sheared piece is bent out at right angles to form the vanes 32.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent from the description. The ventilating system may be easily extended to both sides of a partition wall without alteration of the original air duct concealed in the ceiling, and the sounds generated in either room are absorbed by the sound absorbing divider wall in the header. The objectives set forth in the beginning have been attained.

I claim:

1. A header member for dividing ventilating air from an elongated ceiling duct to the two sides of a room partition wall disposed beneath said duct comprising an upwardly facing channel having side walls extending upwardly :and adapted to engage said ceiling duct, both of said side walls having air openings distributed along the length thereof; a bottom member for said channel; a vertical elongated divider wall in said channel supported by said bottom member; and depending flanges on said bottom member and extending therebelow, said flanges being adapted to engage the said partition wall.

2. The header member defined in claim 1 in which a centrally disposed groove is provided in said bottom member for supporting said divider wall.

3. The header member defined in claim 1 in which the divider wall is constructed of sound absorbing material.

4. The header member defined in claim 1 in which the side walls of said upwardly facing channel are provided with inwardly extending vertical air distributing vanes disposed adjacent the air openings in said side walls.

5. In combination, an elongated ceiling duct; a partition Wall disposed beneath said duct; and a connecting header member therebetween; said header member comprising a channel having side walls extending upwardly and adapted to engage said ceiling duct, both of said side walls having air openings distributed along the length thereof; a bottom member for said channel; a vertical elongated divider wall in said channel supported by and extending above said bottom member; and depending flanges on said bottom member extending below said channel and adapted to engage the said partition wall.

6. In combination, an elongated ceiling duct; a partition wall disposed beneath said duct; and a connecting header member therebetween; said header member comprising a channel having side walls extending upwardly and adapted to engage said ceiling duct, both of said side walls having air openings distributed along the length thereof, and having inwardly extending vertical air dis- 3 A tributing vanes disposed adjacent the air openings in said side Walls; a bottom member for said channel; a vertical elongated divided wall in said channel supported by and extending above said bottom member; and depending flanges on said-bottom member extending below said channel and adapted to engage the said partition Wall.

7. In combination, an elongated ceiling duct having a base plate with air openings distributed along its length and having vertically disposed air distributing vanes extending upwardly above said base plate; and a connecting header member comprising a channel having side walls extending upwardly and adapted to engage said ceiling duct, both of said side walls having air openings distributed along the length thereof; a bottom member for said channel; a vertical elongated upwardly extending divider wall in said channel supported by said bottom member; and depending flanges on said bottom member extending below said channel and adapted to engage the said partition wall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,223,019 12/1965 Schuh 98-40 FOREIGN PATENTS 657,657 9/1936 Germany.

ROBERT A. OLEARY,P1-imazy Examiher. W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A HEADER MEMBER FOR DIVIDING VENTILATING AIR FROM AN ELONGATED CEILING DUCT TO THE TWO SIDES OF A ROOM PARTITION WALL DISPOSED BENEATH SAID DUCT COMPRISING AN UPWARDLY FACING CHANNEL HAVING SIDE WALLS EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID CEILING DUCT, BOTH OF SAID SIDE WALLS HAVING AIR OPENINGS DISTRIBUTED ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF; A BOTTOM MEMBER FOR SAID CHANNEL; A VERTICAL ELONGATED DIVIDER WALL IN SAID CHANNEL SUPPORTED BY SAID BOTTOM MEMBER; AND DEPENDING FLANGES ON SAID 